Wildfires burn across Colorado, thousands evacuated

By Melissa Gray, CNN

Updated 10:46 PM ET, Sun June 24, 2012

Photos: Wildfires devastate Western states51 photos

Wildfires devastate Western states – A firefighter works a burnout operation on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney, Wyoming, on Wednesday, July 4. More than 800 firefighters are working 15-hour shifts battling the fire that has exceeded 56,000 acres, according to fire information services.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Trees smolder and burn on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire. The crews are working and sleeping close to the fire in an effort to contain it.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Firefighter Ryan Christian sits with his crew from Alaska before heading out to fight the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. The blaze, burning in dead and thick stands of timber, started on June 24 and is 15% contained.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Firefighter Alex Abols monitors fire on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. Record fire danger and long stretches of the red flag warning days have made it challenging to control.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A utilities worker walks past the skeleton of a vehicle on Monday, July 2, while searching for gas leaks in a Colorado Springs community ravaged by the Waldo Canyon Fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – An American flag waves Monday in front of a house leveled by the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs. Residents began returnning to the area on Sunday after the fire forced thousands of people from their homes.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The words "We Will Rebuild" are seen written on the sidewalk in front of a house in Colorado Springs that was destroyed by the fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Fire-destroyed homes are seen in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, where hundreds of residents were given an eight-hour window to visit their properties on Sunday, July 1.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A jogger on Sunday looks out over neighborhoods in Colorado Springs that were evacuated due to the Waldo Canyon Fire. The massive fire has destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 32,000 people to flee.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Frank Baker visits the remains of his brother's home in Bellvue, Colorado, on Saturday, June 30. The house was burned to the ground in the High Park Fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Homes destroyed by the Waldo Canyon Fire are seen from the air in a Colorado Springs neighborhood on Saturday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Damaged cars line the curb in front of ruined houses in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The line of fire damage is clearly visible in this Colorado Springs neighborhood.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoke billows at sunrise from part of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – One home stands surrounded by others destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Homes burned to the ground by the Waldo Canyon fire are seen in a neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The fire, which has burned more than 15,000 acres, began spreading to the southwestern corner of the Air Force Academy in the early morning, causing base officials to evacuate residents.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – President Barack Obama tours fire damage with elected officials and firefighters in the Mountain Shadows residential neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Friday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Firefighters get ready to tackle the Waldo Canyon Fire on Friday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A house is engulfed in flames as fire crews fight to contain it at the Rose Crest fire in Herriman, Utah, on Friday, June 29. Crews are fighting to contain six separate blazes in the state.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A pig is evacuated in a wheelbarrow from the Ching Family Animal Refuge in Herriman, Utah, as the wildfires worsen on Friday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Melissa Bowman, a CNN iReporter from Big Piney, Wyoming, captures the Fontenelle Fire close to her home as she waits for an evacuation notice.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A camp for firefighters is set up at Holmes Middle School in Colorado Springs on Thursday, June 28. The Waldo Canyon Fire has scorched more than 16,700 acres.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A partially burned home smolders Thursday in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The line where the Waldo Canyon Fire stopped moving east is seen from the air in Colorado Springs. Lower temperatures and lighter winds helped firefighters on Thursday in the battle against the fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – An aerial view of a destroyed neighborhood in the aftermath of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The Waldo Canyon fire spreads through a neighborhood in the hills above Colorado Springs on June 26. See more photos at The Denver Post.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Hazy smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire looms behind the Air Force Academy stadium on Wednesday, June 27, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The fire expanded to 15,000 acres. More than 32,000 people have been evacuated.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Susan Custer and her husband, Gary Custer, watch the Waldo Canyon Fire on Wednesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – At dawn on Tuesday, firefighters stir from their tents at a camp near Holmes Middle School.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoke billows from the Waldo Canyon Fire west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Evacuees drive under a shroud of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – J'Amie Sirvaitis of Colorado Springs watches the Waldo Canyon Fire after winds pushed the fire into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Residents of Colorado Springs watch as the Waldo Canyon Fire burns a home in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire engulfs Interstate 25 north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the blaze burns out of control Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A large plume of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire fills the sky west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Jan Stone, right, comforts Angela Morgan as smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire pours over the Mountain Shadows neighborhood of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A portion of the Waldo Canyon Fire moves across a hillside above a subdivision west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Transportation personnel set up a roadblock west of Manitou Springs, Colorado, on Monday, June 25.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A portion of the Waldo Canyon fire burns out of control in the hills west of Manitou Springs on Monday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Trees burn on a ridge above Cedar Heights in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 24.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Greg and Karen Bodine help her father, Duane Schormann, left, load his animals into a trailer near Colorado Springs as they evacuate the area June 24.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The High Park Fire, which was 45% contained as of June 23, has destroyed 191 homes west of Fort Collins.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The High Park Fire rages through the forest west of Fort Collins, Colorado, on June 19.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Local resident Dwayne Crawford looks out at the High Park Fire from his home west of Fort Collins on June 19.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant on the blaze June 19. Its growth potential was "extreme," according to authorities.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Flames scorched this area outside of Fort Collins where the High Park Fire has burned out, June 19.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A helicopter drops water over the Wood Hollow Fire north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A wall of fire makes its way down a hillside toward a farm north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26. The Wood Hollow Fire, one of at least three wildfires burning in Utah, has grown to nearly 39,000 acres.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoldering earth and damage from the Dump Fire, which began June 21, can be seen outside a plant near Saratoga Springs, Utah, on Saturday, June 23.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Burned-out terrain from the Dump Fire fills a hillside near Saratoga Springs, Utah on Saturday.

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Story highlights

11,000 people have been evacuated after a fire that started Saturday

FEMA authorizes federal funds to fight the Waldo Canyon Fire

Six other wildfires are actively burning

The entire city of Manitou Springs,Colorado, is evacuated

Dry and hot conditions allowed a spate of wildfires to burn across Colorado on Sunday, forcing thousands of people into shelters and cutting off access to some of the state's largest national forests.

Some 11,000 people were evacuated in and around Colorado Springs after the 2,000-acre Waldo Canyon Fire began there Saturday. The Waldo Canyon Fire was 0% contained Sunday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help fight the Waldo Canyon Fire after Colorado Springs and surrounding El Paso County declared an emergency, which allows them to receive state and federal aid.

"This is obviously beyond the resources of any one agency," Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach said. "This declaration is the next step needed for an incident of this size."

More than 70 firefighters were holding the line west of Colorado Springs, said Sunny Smaldino, spokeswoman for the city's fire department.

Six other wildfires were active in the state, according to the Colorado Division of Emergency Management.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who traveled to the Waldo Canyon Fire on Sunday, said 70 helicopters and tankers were in the air over Colorado to help crews battle the flames.

"Almost half the airborne fire suppression in the country is in Colorado," the governor said. "We recognize this is going to take a big push."

The largest of the fires was the High Park Fire, which began June 9 and has now consumed 83,205 acres, the U.S. Forest Service said. It was 45% contained Sunday.

Nearly 2,000 fire personnel were fighting the wildfire, located in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, and more were expected later, emergency management spokeswoman Micki Trost said.

She said the High Park Fire has destroyed 191 homes, though officials expect that number to go up once crews are able to go in and assess the damage.

Gene Ellisberg was shooting pictures in the nearby Rocky Mountain National Park when he saw "a giant, enormous smoke cloud" about 30 to 50 miles away, he told CNN.

Ellisberg lives in the flatlands near Denver, but said, "I'm close enough to the fire that when the wind blows, it makes the air quality horrible."

The other major fire was the 19,566-acre Little Sand Fire, burning on rugged, inaccessible terrain in the San Juan National Forest in southern Colorado. It was 31% contained Sunday.

Though smaller than the other wildfires, the Waldo Canyon Fire was of big concern because of its aggressive behavior, officials said.

"I don't think there's been anything more devastating than that fire right there," El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said, adding the fire has been spreading in two or three different directions.

"This is the greatest natural threat that we've seen in this community in the last 30 or 40 years," Maketa said.

Kimberly Shumard, 47, who lives 20 miles from the fire, said the air can be thick and full of ash. She said she woke up to burned leaves in her yard Sunday and can hear fire-fighting planes and helicopters overhead.

She described the smell as "stronger than a campfire." She said her dog, a Shepherd-Lab mix named Pasha, is keeping a close eye on where she and her husband are at all times and staying close by.

Also Sunday, FEMA authorized federal funds to help fight the Weber Fire in southwest Colorado, which stood at 6,500 acres Sunday and 0% containment.

"Weather conditions are ripe for the fires," Trost said. Temperatures have been above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the past two days and humidity has been low, she said.

For firefighters, that means a danger of overheating and a need to keep them hydrated.

The fires are prompting a long list of ever-changing road closures. County and state officials and charities such as the Red Cross and Humane Society are using Twitter and other social media to keep residents updated.

The use of Twitter is beneficial to emergency management officials as well, she said, because it allows residents to share photographs and details of what they're seeing.

"When you receive that call to evacuate, (make sure) that you are ready to go and that you get out of the area as quickly as possible for your safety and so the fire crews can get into the area," Trost said.

In neighboring Utah, where the weather was also hot, dry and windy, at least two wildfires were burning Sunday. FEMA is providing funds to help fight the Wood Hollow Fire, which grew to 10,000 acres since starting Saturday afternoon, the Sanpete County Sheriff's Office said Sunday.

There were evacuation orders in place for parts of the county, about 50 miles south of Salt Lake City. The sheriff's office could not say how much of the fire was contained.

West of Provo, the Dump Fire had grown to more than 6,000 acres and was 40% contained, officials said.